


Elli Retires

by RGmolpus



Series: Innocent Bystanders [5]
Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-08-09 23:58:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20125990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RGmolpus/pseuds/RGmolpus
Summary: Admiral Quin decides to get out while the getting out is good.





	Elli Retires

**Author's Note:**

> This one ends - happily.
> 
> Please recall that Athos is a long set of jumps away from the rest of the Nexus; I think Herself describes it as a two month trip. Ethan has to take the annual survey ship to Kline Station, as Athos doesn't have any jumpships of it's own, and freelance traders don't come often.
> 
> That they now need a Portmaster says a lot about how big the asteroid strike is...

The message was unexpected. Ellie had to look at a calendar, and count years to believe it was true. He'd not promised to send word; but there had been a mention of sending important news.

Elli sat back in her chair, tapping a penstick on her lips; imagining what could come from the invitation. The letter had included an entry visa; a special one; very needed at this destination. 

She'd been commanding Admiral of the Dendarii Rangers for twelve - fourteen years; The Fleet had grown; some conquests, some purchases - special deals on other navies surplus craft - and last year two mortgages to Jackson's Whole had been completed (Elli remembered them; all the Captain-Owners had made the parties a real blast starting the instance the last payment confirmation came in).

She had a good staff; Commodore Jackson was reaching the top of his game; Xia Junbao was settled in as Chief of Staff. They needed a new Fleet Engineer; putting Jackson and Xia on that would be a good test of their skills. The special patron had met both of them, they'd read into the special arrangement fast; they both had experience from their formal military positions about holding secrets in tight. 

Jackson had done well, six months ago, when he took flights 2 and 4 out on a contract past Hegen Hub; Ellie used the time to take the rest of the fleet to Komarr, for a rest and refit (always with a special rate on parts and labor). The Komarr domes were the best compromise for her when it came to hitting dirt; Domes weren't a Station, but they could feel like it.

A Station wasn't a ship; it didn't travel; orbiting a planet wasn't really moving. The offer would have her in that one place forever; no chance of shots fired or boarding actions. ...well, maybe a boarding action if she moonlighted as a customs or Eco-officer.

Ghod - she'd be like watzname back on Kline... waagh!

Naismith had always warned her it's better to leave at the top of the game, than when you're sliding down from a peak; which was where she was at. The Dendarii, under her command, had one of the best reputations in the nexus; on time, on budget, hostages and criminals delivered alive and to happy customers. Old grudges had finally ended; they'd even had a few contracts with the Cetas; escort work for critical cargoes to places their navy couldn't go. Paid well, fast, and on time. Her contact with the special Customer had painted his desk with tea when she'd told him they were taking that first Ceta contract... when she'd met with Admiral Naismith he'd stuttered a bit asking if the rumor was true. When he saw the fee she'd charged, he really laughed.... 

Retiring had never seemed right; but this message... this made a change. She'd tossed away the thought she'd ever get the message, when she'd said goodby back on Kline Station; not expecting to survive six years, not a decade and a half. She knew part of her would be alive almost forever; that's what genetics was about; but to see the results... 

She slurped some coffee.

==================

Meeting with the Special Customer's Contact was a trouble; she couldn't walk into Impsec Galactic HQ just anytime - unless she was closing a public contract from Barrayar or Komarr. This time, the meetup was in the Komarr Shipyard Engineer's Office; a normal place for Ship Captains to visit.

The meeting started normally; Ellie had a folder full of sensor logs and ship scans; the mission logs, and the quarterly budget. He had a folder of requests, and a credit chit for the usual quarterly supplement - or was it a retainer? All very normal business.

"I need to tell you this face to face;" Ellie held her coffee bulb firmly; "I've decided to retire in a year or so - I've had an offer to be a Portmaster in an obscure corner; and I've decided to take it. "

Commodore Olshansky blinked a few times, holding his posture still - ghod, was he fun to play poker against! - "Anyone we know?"

"Well, it's outside of the normal trading circuits of the nexus; Every hear of Athos?"

Olshanski leaned back a bit; "Ah, that is down a deep rabbit hole. Isn't that the men only planet? Some special religious colony?"

"Yes. I have a 'friendship' with one of their top people, and since they're receiving more visits, he thought of me as a candidate to be the portmaster. They don't like to admit women exist, but I'm a special case."

"Why are they seeing more traffic? Not tourism, I'd expect."

"No, Et - My contact said there was a major asteroid mining strike in one of the intermediate systems, and Athos is the closest resupply spot. There isn't a permanent station in system for the mining operations, so the Miners jump to Athos when they need supplies. The Athosian government likes the extra revenue; but they don't like the extra people, especially the women. They want a woman to act as a buffer when needed; someone they can adjust to."

"Can't blame them. This mining strike, when did it happen? I don't recall seeing any reports about it" Ellie knew Olshanski would be ordering a complete update on Athos and the mining strike when the meeting was over; if he was unaware of the details now - easier to make a deal.

"I'm not sure when the strike happened; I think about two years ago. Something to do with Iridium and Osmium, I think. A really pure deposit; easy to sell with minimal processing."

"OK. What's this relationship you have with the Athlosians, when did it start?"

"About fifteen years ago, when the Admiral was still in command. He sent me to Kline Station to find out what the Ceta's were doing - this was well before the Marilac breakout - and the Cetas were searching for someone. He was from Jackson's Whole, and that's where Athos came in. They had ordered a large biosample set from the Whole, and somewhere in transit it'd been swapped for biologic junk. They sent their best Doctor; name of Ethan; to try to discover what had happened, and get a replacement from somewhere. The Cetans thought he was involved with the person they were hunting, as he was from the Whole; so I got drawn into a mess. Ethan and I worked together to get free of the Cetans; I got the intelligence the Admiral wanted - it should be in the files - and I helped Ethan recover his biosamples."

There - a solid description of the mess at Kline station, and no mention of my missing ovary.

This was another review order from Olshansky to his staff, certainly.

The Commodore Sat with a blank face; shifting some of his briefing flimsies; "I'll review the records from that time. Your -friendship- with the Althosian started at this time? Has he, or another Althosian contacted you since?"

"We've sent several holiday greetings over the years, and when he joined with a permanent partner he sent me an invitation. I was over by Dalton at the time, so I sent back a congratulations. That's been about it."

"Well, I can't fault you for wanting to retire when you're young and able to enjoy life sleeping late. As long as Athos isn't a threat to Barrayar, I can't see a reason to object. This will have to go to VBS for review. We will have an expectation that you'll keep an ear open for news that involves you, you understand. At usual rates, of course."

The problem with Intelligence work is you never got free of it. Once the hook was in - it never pulled out. Impsec couldn't publicly oppose her retirement; but they could make it a short one... as the Ceta's might try to do. Ellie hoped they had given up the grudge from Marilac, and a dozen more conflicts. "At the usual rates, certainly. Tho, advance news of mining yields isn't something to be excited about. contact with Athos is a spotty affair, as few ships get through. It's at the end of a long set of jumps; Ghu knows how fast reports will get to you."

"Information's information; we take what we can get. You're really certain you want to retire? A half-dozen trading houses here on Komarr would snap you up in an instant as fleet captain, or security chief; at a huge salary. Same with Beta, Escobar - or Earth. What's special about Athos?"

Ah - here's the fix - "I want to settle down; maybe raise a family. Being out in the Nexus keeps me in the public eye; and that makes my back itch. Too many people, not just the Wholers or the Cetas, want to put a hole in my back, and getting out of sight, but with a planetary government behind me, seems the best option. The Athosian's are offering a good salary; I know the job, and they want -me -."

"I'll send the request back to Impsec; when the answer comes in I'll forward it to you fastest." Olshansky broke into a smile: "Retirement - ah, what a dream!"

============

That party at Kline station had been huge; even some of her family came. It was a declared Fleet holiday - shore leave for everyone! - and a special deal had been negotiated with Station Security that they'd ignore everything that didn't include shooting holes in bulkheads, or starting fires. Admiral Jackson, now read into the very special relationship with Barrayar, had offered to detach the Peregrine, or another fleet ship, to take her to Athos; she declined. The fleet needed to leave in one piece; breaking the bonds that tied them together, in a clean motion. 

Ethan came, on a medium freighter. It was loading orders for the mining outpost; things that Athos didn't produce; special tools, electronics; other supplies.

It took Ethan several days to stop twitching when women came close to him; he did better than two other Athosians did; they took one look at the grand concourse, and didn't go any farther than the small restaurant closest to their hotel. Too much sin and depravity - obviously an evil place!

Ethan had to lean on his diplomatic and professional authority to get his companions to meet Ellie; she wore a bulky sweater and no makeup to appear as neutral and plain as she could. They still twitched sitting across from her in a booth over coffee. Ethan rolled his eyes at Ellie, seeing their squirming. 

The trip down to Athos took it's usual long time; Ethan noted that it was easier this time than his first trip; there was enough traffic passing thru that relay satellites and message beacons had been set all along the path. "We now get nexus news only two months late, instead of with a years' delay, amazing!"

During the trip down, Ellie kept inspecting the ships that they passed; mostly bulk freighters, a few gas giant dip miners; nothing with real passenger capacity. There weren't many; the Gas miners were concentrated in the third system they passed thru; little spikes, smooth hulls to slip into a hydrogen atmosphere, then dart out full of compressed gas to be transferred to a robotic chiller and purification station. There were constellations of empty cylinders around the stations, waiting for their eventual loads of hydrogen, helium, nitrogen or argon; then to be gathered onto the spine of a bulk freighter, destination: anywhere. They'd never come to Athos; there was a wonderful gas giant there, and one on the mining system; and Athos didn't need those gasses for it's industries; mainly being an agricultural world. 

At the end, Ellie was eager to step foot in her new domain - Athos Orbital Highport; especially the large bath and shower compartment! It was part of the contract that she had unmetered water and air; at half station price. Ethan's companions had finally stopped twitching when she passed in a tight companionway; One had been brave to the point of asking her minor questions of life on the Nexus; to the shock of his companion. Ethan smiled, and sipped his coffee bulb.

Finally, all the arrival processes had ended; she'd met with the carefully selected Athosian staff; who twitched and squirmed in her presence; they steadied when Ethan pointed out, in private, that they were doing a major service in being a buffer between this - woman - and the righteous population of Athos. She'd be dealing with all sorts of worse people on a daily basis - those irritating, irreligious miners, ship personnel, Freighter Captains; better she than we!

They also started counting up the extra social credits they'd be accumulation, being here in orbit with a - woman!

In her most semi-military uniform (she refused to wear her Dendarii greys), she managed through a tense meeting with the Planetary President, and his advisory staff. They came to the Station; an unsettling event for most of them; where they tirefully explained that she'd never be welcome on Athos; she was a tolerated evil; and better her than the corruption they'd had to face before. The President apologized to her later for the impolite and insulting tone of the meeting; needed politics; they'd come around to seeing her as a Father-sent boon soon enough.

Her duties on the station were light; maybe one ship a month; usually from the Mining stations, picking up food, chemicals, medical supplies; leaving some metals for Athos's industries; and giving the miners a chance to sit and breath in a room larger then three meters by three. Ellie grabbed several damaged gas tanks off a freighter; had them stiffened, and anchored them to the Station - they doubled the open space of the station. She added a small restaurant and living quarters to them; in imitation to a rig she'd seen on Kibo-Dani years before; making a huge open area to ease the claustrophobia or tightness sickness of any visitor. 

The Council had grumbled at the price, until the revenue from the Miners stays' on Station doubled. The restaurant became the single most profitable concession; The small hotel stayed full. Ellie Quinn was there to stay.

It was Winterfest on Athos; almost two years to the day when the invitation to become Portmaster had arrived on Ellie's desk. Ethan called her - he was the only Athosian with permission to call her at any time, business reason or no; asking for an hour of her time later that day. Would she be in her quarters, about 1700?

==========

"Boys, this is a special treat. So special, I've had to get approval from the President, and Chief Advocate; so this stays private; absolutely private. All of you understand?" Ethan stood in the middle of his, and Terrence's gaggle of boys. The youngest had turned eighteen earlier that year. Terrence sat at the vidcamera; he still had an aversion to being seen by camera. Ethan looked at his watch; counting down the seconds until 1700 hours. 

When the time hit, to the second, he hit 'connect' on the comconsole; it took a few seconds for the call to go thru; with a little extra delay as the call was directed up past the atmosphere. The screen changed from the normal random pattern to the inside of a station residence; tastefully decorated for the winter season in red and gold. In the center of the screen was a - _**Woman**_??!!! 

"Boys, may I introduce you to - your Mother."

**Author's Note:**

> See? I can write a farewell story that doesn't end in tears!


End file.
